Nancy Said:

How to write the most amazing essay that I will have to get an A?

We Answered:

Here are the university guidelines for writing an argumentative/critical essay. If you follow these to a key, you'll be sure to get a good mark.

Essay Writing

Brain-Storming
- Whenever you are reading a text on which you will write a paper, make sure you read it with a pen.
- Take notes of patterns, images, representations throughout that might form the beginning of an argument.

Ask yourself
- Anything interesting throughout the text, provoking, troubling, etc? Can you for a pattern from these instances? Once you form a pattern, ask what these moments or patterns mean and why are they significant? What is their significance to the text as a whole? Do they support an overarching idea?

For Example
- Are there a lot of night scenes?
- Are there representations of childhood, masculinity or femininity?
- Tall characters vs. short characters?
- Some might be insignificant.
- Are there interesting patterns in the text? Are there “helper” characters in fairy tales, etc?

From This Point
- An essay is an argument you construct in order to win.
- Ask yourself questions.
- What argument are you going to make about the text?

Intro and Thesis
- Start general and move to the specific.
- Don’t start general in terms of “since the dawn of time,” “women have always been oppressed”, etc.
- Start with generalization about your specific argument.
- If you can say “obviously” about something, it is not a good thesis but may be a good opening statement.
- This is not a thesis; it is an observation about a story. This is an opening but you need to work on from it. You can also use a quotation.
- Make sure in your introduction, you give the full title with the full author’s name. “In Charles Occult’s ... book Cinderella ...”

Sample Intro and Thesis
Cinderella relies on wish fulfillment. This works in two ways: in terms of gender, and class. Through the power of her godmother, fulfills the patriarchal imperative that a woman must achieve a husband in order to be successful, and the class narrative that one must achieve a higher-class status in order to live happily ever after. There are indications, two goals that contradict.


Now What?
- How do you decide your body paragraphs?
- Intro should give you an idea of what to put in the essay itself.
- Want to prove your thesis.

What do I need?
- Prove that your story provides “wish fulfillment” (one paragraph on each)

An Idea
- Map it out
- Think about what you need to argue.
- What evidence you will need to present.
- Use a scene (give a page number) even if you aren’t quoting it, or use a quotation.
- Paragraph should have a topic sentence.

S.E.X
- Generally speaking a paragraph should begin with a Statement.
- Followed by an Example (quotation) to back up that Statement
- Explanation – explain how the quotation backs up that Statement.

Transitions
- Any transition between points should occur at the beginning of the paragraph, not at the end. Say something like “Just as Cinderella’s beauty is important, so is ...”

Conclusion
- Wind up your arguments.
- Don’t restate all your points; reiterate but don’t use the same sentence.
- Give the reader closure without boring them.

Grammar and Style Points
- Don’t use second person “you”. “When you read this story, you think about your life...” Either say “I argue, I once watched”, or use “one” if you are generalizing.
- Use complete sentences; no comma splices.
- Punctuation goes inside quotation marks “As I read ‘Cinderella,”.
- Except in the case of semi-colons, colons and question makes: “Does everybody like ‘Cinderella’?
- Single quotes are only used inside double quotes.
- When referring to a passage in a text, it is a quotation not a quote.

Ross Said:

I need help on writing an essay about how to write a research paper?

We Answered:

I would write, "To write a research paper, you have to include the blah, blah blah, the whatever you're going to write here, and the yada yada yada." Or something like that.

Glen Said:

Write an essay about how you write a paper...?

We Answered:

Lolz. This actually a funny assignment. I say you write the introduction with a brief summary that include:

Two sentences on the advantage of writing a good essay. Example, essays win scholarships.
One sentence on the first component of the essay. Example, the intro. Brief define what it should be.
One sentence on the second component and so on for the rest of the components. Components of the essay depend on you and your thinking of how to put together a great essay.
Last sentence should just restate the importance of learning how to write a good essay.

Hope that helps!